Yesterday afternoon, I carved out some time to take a long walk. It was sunny and clear after the morning fog burned off. I’m sure the tall Redwoods in our yard appreciated the mist in the morning. I had read somewhere that Redwoods take in as much as 40% moisture from the fog. With climate change, this may not be always possible anymore.

I waited until about 2:00 p.m. The weather forecast showed that this would be the warmest time of the day. I know I sound like a wimp but temperatures in the mid to high 50’s suit me just fine for walking around our neighborhood, not much less. I was not really up to bundling up yesterday. I put on Beau’s harness and clipped his leash on. We stepped out and made our way down to the golf course.

I did look at my post from last year when we were prompted to write down what we would challenge ourselves for 2013. I thought I’d take a hard look at what I set out to accomplish for the year and how I fared.

I did get the opportunity to see some old friends from high school, college and med school this year. I have not seen some of them in more than 25 years! I am grateful for the serendipitous lunches, dinners and even jaunts out of the city. They provided me the gift of reconnecting,, catching up on their lives, and reestablishing ties.

I struggled with regular physical activity for the first few months but then, I discovered FitBit by mid-year. What a find! Now, I can smile assuredly that I’m in good control of this. My weight has not been yo-yoing so drastically anymore. And the frequent hikes with my hubby and Beau have been such great experiences. (I’ll tell you more about FitBit later.)

We pause to soak in the sunshine and the lovely view, Photo Credit Likeitiz

I said I’d post more on WordPress. Well, the annual report they give out does say that my blog had 139 posts, with 135 of them my own, compared to 89 in 2012. I suppose this is an improvement . I will try harder in 2014. I have joined some of DP’s challenges. I noticed however, that whenever I did, my post would be linked by other bloggers to their posts. But, most of them don’t even bother to really pause and take a look at what I posted. They just pingback. I often wonder if it’s just to increase traffic to their blog. I make it a point that when I link other posts of the same theme, I do visit the site and leave a comment or at the very least a “like” if I liked their post. Otherwise, it all seems insincere and Machiavellian. Am I being an onion?

I have practiced more consciously being more patient, more tolerant of people who are different. However, I have also practiced more intolerance of bigots and proponents of inequality. I have posted more on social issues, pop culture, and some significant events n the news. Yeah, I’m opinionated. What can I say?

My travels to Manila have afforded me more time with my family. A recent family crisis this past summer has made this even more important. Yes, my whole world has been off-key since we have had to deal with this travesty. I keep asking myself when I can get off the bus to take a breath. Unfortunately, the opportunity has not presented itself yet.

I have been negligent with short story writing. I need to learn from Writerlious more often, perhaps? Or emulate DJ’s and Rara‘s tenacious creative regularity? I have not touched our piano at all after I had it tuned earlier this year. Sigh! I’ll get there someday.

And so, I look forward to 2014 with high hopes and expectations of myself. It is a new year and so, another opportunity to do better. To be better. Seriously.

I really enjoyed this post – flowing to read and later on I will check out some of the books and bios you read 9so thanks for actively linking them – I love when bloggers do that for certain things – it gives us readers the chance to quickly peruse – and keep sue in the flow of the post if we do look right way – or in my case, we can bookmark the post to enjoy later).

oh, and I know you know this – but do not forget that sometimes when we assess a year it is too often to see what we did not do – or to only measure success with productivity – when that is only part of it – because we plan and have goals and all – but sometimes just living and enjoying the essence of a day – or week – is made up of the in between moments – that are never measured on the list – and I just started following your blog – but your walks with Beau seem like a great achievement and the photos – of Beau and of other things – well they are not to be minimized and they have to scheduled in as well.

lastly, the first photo in this post was my favorite of the 3 – and it captured me from the start because it was truly “a dog’s view of the world” – or seemed like Beau’s view – looking down the oath with that small yellow sign to the left – really beautiful shot!

“…but sometimes just living and enjoying the essence of a day – or week – is made up of the in between moments – that are never measured on the list…” Thank you for expressing what I did not but believe in very deeply. The in-between moments, these are really what count. Thank you, Yvette.

The walks with Beau are indeed some of my most enjoyable activities. It’s relaxing. I get to appreciate my surroundings. The first photo is my favorite too. We had sopped so I could give him a treat. Then I noticed the tree lined path and how Beau was looking in that direction. So I whipped out my iPhone and clicked away!

Girl, 50 degrees? It’s 50 here today, but there is snow tomorrow, then -20 wind chill next week. We were watching the weather report today and my dog turned and looked at me as if to tell me she would NOT be peeing in temps like that. I think your blog is fantastic, those stats are always fun, but they don’t matter. Your posts are always so interesting and I love getting a new one.

Hahaha! I would feel the same way if I were your loyal canine. Well, I have to confess that I was not much of a country music fan. However, because I’ve been visiting your blog a lot, I find myself more aware of the likes of McGraw, Urban, Ashley Monroe, etc.

I also find it silly when people ping big lists of peoples photo challenge posts when clearly they haven’t visited. They usually need moderating which means I have to go check I’m not being linked to something awful!
I love your Beau’s photos, he is so handsome and sleek. Good luck for 2014 🙂